


New Friends

by BluSail



Series: Death is a shield and Life a sword [3]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Autistic Hop, Fluff, Gen, autistic piers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:27:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22034806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BluSail/pseuds/BluSail
Summary: Hop is an energetic kid.Sometimes, it takes a few new friends to get him to slow down and appreciate life before his dreams.
Relationships: Dande | Leon & Hop, Hop & Piers, kinda? Hop misses his brother
Series: Death is a shield and Life a sword [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1559467
Comments: 8
Kudos: 110





	New Friends

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! This one takes place before "Don't be a bother, be a brother", but I got hasty and just posted the other one first. 
> 
> This was supposed to be short, but I just kept getting ideas... probably only the two chapters tho
> 
> (again though, nothing shippy in here between them. I see all those creepy fics and i hate them, none of that here.)

Hop is restless the day after leon finally tells them when he'll be home. After about a week of adults fusing over him, Leon finally going to get a chance to break away for home. Hop was excited, enough that his nani shooed him to run out his energy as usual. It’s not the first time that the townsfolk sidestep, chuckling as Hop runs around the main street. Of course, this is the first time that no one spotted him before he rushed passed the opening gate, and now he’s rather lost.

He’s never actually been this far away from town without Leon or at least an adult. He was far enough downhill into the thicket that he couldn’t see the mountains he could use to get home. But now, as Hop squats down on the side of the road, he’s a bit too scared of going uphill if he’s just going to get more lost.

If this is how Lee feels all the time, Hop is maybe never going to make fun of him again.

Hop could draw a map? Hop looked around, before finding a rather grimy stick, and drawing in the sand. He wasn’t far enough away that he still couldn't hear the train, so he could wait to hear it and head in that direction? But there were a lot of wooloo on the tracks recently, it might not be running-

A brush rustled beside him.

Hop stilled, looking towards the tall grass. That wasn’t. Good. He knew enough times from wandering with Leon that shaking grass mean pokemon. He knew the ones around town were fine, but he was in the wild. Wild Pokemon, no matter how nice, were dangerous. That no matter how nice most were, you’d need to be able to protect yourself.

But Hop did have a stick! He grinned, swinging it around, before looking towards the grass again. He crept closer, using it to part the grass. “Hello?...”

An egg? Hop tilted his head, before crawling closer and looking around. No one seemed to be around, so Hop picked it up, placing it in his lap. The egg shifted more, and Hop giggled, dropping the stick and picking it up with both his hands.

“Baby, Baby.” Hop took a few steps before it shook even harder. He fell back and patted the egg carefully. He gave it a few more light taps before a crack resounded. Hop froze, staring at his hands in horror.

Then the egg began to glow.

“Oh! You’re hatching!” Hop placed it back on the ground, and it began to shimmer and shake even more before- pop! Hop gasped, seeing a familiar pair of black ears and white wool.

“A wooloo! Haha-hi I’m Hop!” He patted its nose, and while it looked startled, leaned into the touch. It stared at him before bleeting and trying to stand up before falling down. Hop smiled, getting on his knees and patting his hands on the ground.

“Like this! Like this!” the wooloo struggled up, before standing with its tail wagging. Hop smiled, standing up and taking a few steps forward and diving his hand into the soft wool. It was even better than wooloos around town, and hop only giggled as it started to chew on his shirt.

“Hey.”

Hop blinks, before looking up. A pale boy stood with a hand against a tree, and he was fiddling with a familiar-looking necklace. He had two stripes of black and white hair over his face, that he brushed away to look at him closer. They both stared at each other for a bit, before the boy hunched over, leaned on the tree and pulled out his phone. He tapped at it a bit, as Hop scratched the top of the wooloo’s head, looking up at him. He reached over to pull on the boy’s pants leg, but since it had so many tears maybe they were shorts now? Either way, the boy chewed at his lips, before looking down at Hop again.

“So, you...you good?” The boy mumbled, looking down at Hop. Hop blinked up at him, before humming and feeling the fuzz of the torn jeans. The boy grimaced, pulling away.

“Don’t. Anyways. Are you, lost?”

“Yeah.” The boy sighed and looked around.

“You from Postwick?” Hop gaped, grabbing the jean fuzz again.

“How’d ya know!?”

The boy swatted his hand again.

“Stop. And I’m going there now, so uh.” He sighed and let go of his necklace thing and offered his hand to Hop. Hop tilted his head, giving it a slap and looking back up.

“...you know the profes-”

“That’s Sonia’s grandma! She-”

“Don’t interrupt me.” The boy frowned before grabbing Hop’s hand and walking towards the hill. Hop frowned, but reluctantly let him led him. He placed a hand on the wooloo’s head, and it trotted awkwardly next to them. It was nothing like how Lee would hold his hand, giving him soft squeezes and swinging their joined hands. This guy held him loosely and seemed to go slow enough for Hop to walk in front no matter what pace he took. The boy huffed, pulling back.

“O-oi!” The boy tightened his grip and Hop giggled.

“You’re going too fast, it's only a baby!”

“A baby?” The boy frowned, before looking at the wooloo more closely. He kneeled down, looking it over.

“You should probably put it back in its pokeball, it looks...real tired, I guess.” The boy scratched alongside its ear, and the wooloo leaned into the touch.

“I don’t gotta Pokeball. It came out an egg.”

“W-what?! It’s wild? ah.” He riffled through his bag, before coming up with a pokeball. Hop gasped.

“No!” The boy looked at him exasperated.

Hop glared as best he could, feeling pent up and increasingly more annoyed with the boy. Who was he to show up out of nowhere and then try to catch his wooloo?

“It’s mine! Why would you even want it?”

“What? I, look, just calm down.” Hop huffed, before placing himself closer to the pokemon and wrapping his arms around it’s neck. The wooloo gnawed on his shirt, and the boy sighed again, rubbing at his forehead.

“Marnie would never...” The boy muttered under his breath, pulling Hop away from the wooloo and lifting him by his armpits.

Hop squirmed, kicking his legs. “Hey, put me down! Put me-”

“Just calm down already!” Hop frowned and banged his fist against his arm, causing the boy to wince and Hop tumbled down.

“Shit! Hey, hey you alri-”

Hop gasped, leaning up. “That’s a bad wor-”

“Stop interrupting me!”

They glared at each other, and the boy let a frustrated noise pulling at his necklace. The boy, perhaps the first person he’d ever seen, seemed like he was humming angrily. He brushed off Hop’s clothes and looked at his knees. One scraped, with a small cut.

“Oh shi- uh, shoot…” The boy looked through his bag and pulled out a small first aid kit. The wooloo trotted around them, chewing on a stick before spitting it out. Oh. It wasn’t being cute, just hungry. Hop suddenly felt bad for different reasons.

“Sorry for freakin ya-”

“I’m sorry for punching-” They both stared at each other, and the boy sighed and gestured for him to continue.

“And for interrupting.”

...mhm I don’t mind, much. You’re a kid.”

Hop watched as he pulled out the last bandaid, slapping it on the cut over his left knee. He felt a little silly now, as Hop thought over how nice, however awkwardly, the boy had been. Besides, Leon always said to be nice to others, if you didn't know what to say. Hop swung his arms by his side, glancing at the boy’s eyes. “What’s your name?”

“...Piers....”

Hop thought for a moment, then grinned. “Oh! You met my brother!”

The boy- Piers, tilted his head at him, before going through his bag again. “I did?”

“His name’s Leon. He sent me a picture of you and Raihan but I forgot till now.”

“Oh. yeah, he's ok. Kinda, um really nice?” Piers set a bowl down, filling it with berries and pokemon food, before nudging it to the wooloo. It sat down, eating happily as Piers laid down on the ground sighing.

“Guess I should have noticed, yellow eyes and purple hair, bein from Postwick...”

“My mom’s got purple hair too.” Hop jumped, looking around as Piers clapped his hands over his eyes.

“You’re kicking up dirt.”

“Sorry.”

“Mhm, I mean.” Piers looked at him again before grimacing.

“I don’t actually care. I’m just saying.”

Hop giggled, picking up a stick. “You’re awkward, that’s funny.”

Piers sighed. “How could you tell?”

“But you’re nice, so that’s ok.”

“Thanks.”

It’s hard to talk to Piers, Hop realizes. It’s hard because he is calm and kind. Leon, Sonia, and Raihan would normally ask the right sort of questions or be just as energetic as Hop. But instead, Piers just lies on the ground, not talking, and it’s awfully boring. Hop swings his arms and looks back down at Piers. He’s biting his lips, and still fiddling with his necklace. Ah.

“Oh! That’s a- a dark type!” Piers quirked an eyebrow, twirling it in his hands.

“Yeah, I mostly use dark types, and...... it’s like I need something like this to keep myself, um. Occupied?” He’s tilting his head like he wants to explain it more but hop tugs on his hand and points to himself.

“Can I talk now?”

Piers nodded.

“I do that! I do that with Lee! I like fluffy things. And my blanket, it’s at home.” Piers smiled, looking somewhat relieved.

“Oh, guess that’s why you liked the tear in my pants so much. you’re like me then. That’s nice.”

Piers, started to hum again, and Hop reached over to pat the wooloo again. Piers gently guided his hand away from the Pokemon, though. “It’s eating, so you shouldn’t mess with it.”

“Why not?”

“Well, you don’t hug someone and eat too, right?”

“Oh. Nope!”

“There ya go then.” Piers made a triumphant trumpet sound, and Hop giggled. Piers rolled his eyes, but he was smiling so Hop attempted to remake the sound.

Piers laughed, sitting up. “You’re like my little sister. She’s your age.”

“You got a sister?”

“Ya, I’m sure she’ll chew me out for being so lackluster at the championship, but that’s ok. Just wanna get back to music, ya know?”

Hop made a questioning noise, tilting his head. Piers looked away, fiddling with his necklace again. He pulled out the pokeball again, but alongside another. “I, uh. Don’t wanna be a trainer for the rest of my life. Don't get me wrong, I still love the gym challenge. I don’t know what I want to do, but I do know she’d be great at being a gym leader. She’s got strength, and I’m proud of her, even before all the growing she’s gonna do.”

Hop smiled but felt a strange twinge in his heart. Does Lee talk about Hop that way? He likes to think so. “That’s cool, you should bring her here and we can all play together. Or battle!”

Piers snorted, sitting up. “She doesn’t have any pokemon. I mean…”

He looks thoughtfully at the pokeball in his hands, before at the wooloo.

“Wanna strike a deal?”

Hop scratched his chin. “Hmm, I accept.”

Piers frowned, before shaking his head. “I didn’t tell ya what you’re going to- you know what, it’s fine. I’m gonna let you borrow this pokemon real quick, I wanna see if it’ll be good for kids your age. And you’ll get to keep the wooloo.”

“Really!? A battle, we’re gonna battle!? A real battle!? I’m gonna catch it?” Piers nodded, standing up, and guiding Hop to stand farther away from the wooloo.

“Yeah, I’ll tell ya what to do, so just do your best ok?” He handed him one of the pokeballs, and Hop gleamed. He raised over his head to throw it, before Piers rushed over and adjusted his stance.

“DON’T do that, uh, it’ll break. just- try underhand?” Hop nodded and threw the ball gently before a squeak went out, and a small orange pokemon came out. Hop giggled, looking at the Pokemon as it sniffed the air. Piers knelt down, pointing towards the pokemon.

“Alright, so. Morpeko knows two moves right now. Thundershock and tail whip. You don’t wanna knock the wooloo out, but it might knock you out, whatcha gonna do?”

Hop thought, looking at the wooloo trying to sneeze a leaf out its nose.

“Um, Tail whip?”

Morpeko made a noise and used tail whip at the wooloo. It looked at the Morpeko startled, before letting out a growl.

“...Why didn’t it whip it’s tail?”

Piers blinked. “What? It did, it just lowered the wooloo’s defense.”

Hop frowned, crossing his arms.

“So it ain’t a whip? What’s the point?” Piers shoulders shook before he clamped a hand over his mouth. The wooloo trouted over and rolled into the Morpeko as it squeaked.

“It just used tackle. You gonna take that?” Hop grinned and pumped his fist.

“Never! Thundershock!”

Morpeko let out a shrill cry and sent a wave of electricity towards the wooloo. It cried out, and Hop felt a twinge of guilt in his gut. He looked over at Piers, who just patted his head.

“Calm down, it’s good. That’s good, it’s paralyzed so it’s easier to catch, here.” He handed him the other pokeball. “Now you can catch it.”

Hop nodded, looking the wooloo in the eye. It looked at him curiously, before Hop smiled and throw the ball. The ball bounced off its head, and it baaed once more before being pulled inside. Hop wanted to rush forward, but Piers held him back by his shirt.

“Did I get it? did I get?!”

“Wait a bit. Four shakes.” Piers pointed at the center of the ball. They watched as the ball shook once,

Twice,

Thrice…

Click.

“Yay!” Hop hurried forward, picking up the ball, and waving it at Piers. He smiled and returned the Morpeko.

“Well, congrats on your first pokemon.”

**Author's Note:**

> Again, I'm not autistic! but I saw headcanons that Piers was also autistic, and loved it.
> 
> I already love the idea that Piers has a soft spot for the main kids just like he does for Marnie. Specifically, Hop, since they had such casual interactions postgame, so I thought it would be nice if they bonded like this. 
> 
> Piers is such a big brother, I'm sure he finds whiplash from how similar and NOT AT ALL LIKE EACH OTHER Hop and Marnie are to him.


End file.
